Muslim and interfaith leaders are urging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to reverse his proclamation designating CAIR as a terrorist organization. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
This comes after CAIR filed a lawsuit against Texas over the governor's declaration, arguing that it violates both the U.S. Constitution and state law.
CAIR argues the order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections, and that Texas overstepped its authority because terrorism designations fall under federal, not state, jurisdiction.
"The governor is attempting to punish the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization simply because he disagrees with its protected First Amendment rights to criticize a foreign state that is conducting genocide. This is not only contrary to the United States Constitution, but finds no support in any Texas law," Mustaffa Carroll, the executive director for CAIR Dallas Fort Worth, said at the news conference on Tuesday.
"You know that CAIR has condemned Hamas attacks. You know that CAIR has spent 31 years fighting terrorism and bigotry. You know that the terrorism boogeyman you invoke is nothing more than a tired, formulated playbook to stoke fear of Muslims," Marium Uddin of the Muslim Legal Defense Fund said on Tuesday.
The Muslim groups called on the governor to retract his labeling of CAIR, calling it defamatory, destructive and dangerous. (Antranik Tavitian/Reuters)
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The lawsuit is ongoing, and it remains unclear whether a court will uphold Abbott’s order or strike it down as exceeding state authority.
The governor’s decree bars CAIR from buying land in the Lone Star State under a new statute aimed at curbing purchases tied to "foreign adversaries."
Abbott’s order also extended the "terrorist" label to the Muslim Brotherhood, despite the federal government never classifying either group that way.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/muslim-groups-other-leaders-demand-abbott-rescind-cairs-terrorist-designation-defamatory